The Magic of Green: The First Years
by Lord CyroMinion
Summary: The Story of a Girl That Found Herself Stranded in a World She Didn't Understand. The Childhood Years of Sandra Polestar, sister to EB's Paula Polestar.
1. PROLOUGE

**THE MAGIC OF GREEN: THE FIRST YEARS**

By Cecil

PROLOUGE

May 7th... May 7th, 1987... Days like this one, they are the variety that tend to seem inert and harmless to history, as many people are not always of full consciousness to what is around them. Days like this tend to be forgotten completely and passed off as simply another day in the limited span of a person's life.

However, the truth is, this day was to be very important to a select few, a select few whose fates seem interwined and destined to cross. For others, it is important since those directly involved are linked to the people in question. For others, they feel anger, others guilt, and more even feel happiness. Others know of the importance of these types of days, but do not visible show that they care, while in truth, deep down, they are furiously trying to figure out what happened.

Whatever the case may be, May 7th, 1987 was a very important day...

Alpincio Forest, Eagleland.

Alpincio Forest was a large reserve of woods and forestland that rested along the city boundaries of two towns in Western Eagleland. One of the two towns was a place called Onett. Onett was said to be your 'podunkish' town, or in laymen's terms, the city that was extremely average, dull and uninteresting. However a couple of place of interest for tourists still existed in Onett. The first was the Arcade, which was also the hangout of all the kids in Onett, where they would go to relieve stress from their lives on the various arcade machines within. Some of the games included were said to be Pac-Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong, Pong, and even a Dr. Who pinball machine.

Another place of interest in Onett was the Library, which for odd reasons, was the only known library in all of Eagleland, the other towns and cities, Twoson, Threed and Fourside possessed no libraries. However Onett's library was also a gather place for some of the nuttier people in Onett and parts of Eagleland as well, as people tended to ramble on about "magic butterflies" and "giant ants", or "Giant Step", another great spot of interest.

The other town that was part of Alpincio Forest, was Twoson, which was also bordering the South portions of Onett. Twoson, on the other hand, it was a buyers' spot of interest, and also not as normal as Onett's boring climate. Such places of interest included the bicycle shop, just to the south of the entrance of town. Another right next to it was the Department Store. The Department Store was filled with people from all around Onett, Twoson and Threed, mainly for those who weren't in the mood to go to the store in Fourside, which was on the Easternmost shores of Eagleland.

Another special place of interest was Burglin Park further to the South. Burgin Park was home to year-round bazzares that sold various things ranging from condiments, to old broken junk that others may have found of use. However some caution was advised around Burglin: the place was also home to theives and sometimes robbers that would openly attack someone for money or other possessions. Another interesting note was that the boss of Burglin Park, Albert Everdred was also a partial crime boss and a dangerous person to some. Only those who knew Everdred personally were trusted friends.

In all of the buyers' pandemonium of Twoson, one other place of interest, also a one-of-a-kind in Eagleland, was the Polestar Preschool, owned by James and Penelope Polestar since 1979. This 8 year old building was both home to the Polestar family, and their two daughters, and also a place for the very young children of Eagleland to send their children. The Polestar girls, Paula and Sandra seemed to get along with a lot of the kids, despite being only 5 years of age themselves.

However, the events of May 7th, 1987 did not take place within the town of Onett or the town of Twoson, but within Alpincio Forest itself...

Alpincio Forest was lush and densely aligned with trees and bushes, many of them populated well by Squirrels and other field mice of various types. Birds were chirping in the distance, and the sun was shining brightly, putting down 72 degrees of sunlight through the trees of the forest. The air wasn't the most fresh, but it was much better off than the town streets.

"Yes, a better day than any to begin this charade, I would say!" came the voice of a human within the forest whims. The human was within a moderate sized clearing in the midsts of the forest outskirts. The human was a male, black skinned, with short brown hair, and was roughly 5 feet, 10 inches. His red eyes however, showed an air of chaos, bitterness and sarcasm in his voice. The truth was, the man hated his life for the most part, and he especially hated the prospect of peace.

"Sunlight, trees, warm air. Perfect situations for breeding chaos, I always say!" the man barked to himself again, in snidely sarcasm. He walked a few steps forward, and stopped on a dime, and proceeded to look upwards, and began raising his arms to the sky. The man began to mumble in a low voice, slowly picking up speed in his chanting.

"Abinora... Ahangodo... Balstinta... Satrunos... Harganis... Krehotia... FOYREM!!" the man chanted, in a trance, and suddenly altering the vertical angle of his arms down and perpendicular with the ground, pointing his outstretched palms at the center of the forest clearing. At first, nothing seemed to happen, and people who had heard the man's chanting would've mistaken his words as those of a loon.

However it then happened. The ground began to slowly shake and tremble underneath his feet. The man did not flinch or seem worried about being discovered. He couldn't worry. No one would've felt that tremor unless about right on top of his location, as the magicial energies he had usurpered had only a small radius of effect. The ground continued trembling under the might of the Earth's magical convulsions, and the man's trance stiff as ever.

Suddenly more happened, the vacant space in front of the man began to crackle with thunder, starting slowly in occurance, as a small blue speck of light had began to fade into the middle of the vacant clearing of the forest. The small blue speck was actually the source of the rumbling of thunder, as it slowly began to expand in size over the perimeter of the clearing, expanding outwards and emitting sparks of energy from through the small blue void itself. After the portal had opened up roughly 10 feet in circumfrence, it stopped finally, but still continuing to pulse and drone on monotonously.

The man smirked in contempt at his creation, his deed, his PORTAL. Yes, that was right. The man had created a dimensional rift that extended outwords and connected to one or many other different worlds. In other words, the man knew of ways to contact beings from other universes, planets, realities. At least it seemed that way.

"Now, to call it forth, call it forth to burn Eagleland, and then the world, asunder!!" the man howled in anticipation, beganing to chant again, in yet another strange language, "Grangorta... Hinyeagh... Deluuim... Lingariva..."

Now, you're probably wondering if this was the reason May 7th, 1987 was an important day. Well, this action was part of it, but what would ensue next was the other portion of it. One grain of sand the man had not anticipated...

_Uh oh. Serpents, I bet. I know I told Mr. Everdred I'd be careful, but something seems wrong. Prehaps I can find out ahead of time what they're planning._

Came the thoughts of a small girl from just a bit aways outside of Alpincio Forest. The girl was small, roughly 2 feet, 3 inches with white skin, Sugar-pink hair and dark purple eyes. She looked to a small opening along the border of the forest seperating Onett and Twoson from each other. She slowly crept her way into the opening in the trees, following the source of an odd chanting and murmuring. The girl seemed to notice a bit of thunder in the air, and small tremors beneath her feet. She became more urgent to find out what was wrong and ran.

Ran only to find herself entering the same clearing of the forest the taller black man was currently chanting his spell. The man seemed to be in a trance and didn't seem to notice her, and she could still hear him murmuring unknown phrases that definately weren't part of her own vocabulary. She decided to study the features of the man more destinctively. She looked over his short brown hair, red eyes, his jacket, his shoes, his... 

_Wait, his jacket?!_

The girl focused in on an insignia on the upper shoulder of his jacket. A snake wrapped around a two-bladded battleaxe. 

_Cripes! He's a Serpent!_

As she had made this realiziation, the man, still unaware of her presense, began to chant again, this time in english, "Foul creature of the skies, of myth, of lore, of fire!! I commandth you... be summoned to me... BE SUMMONED TO ME, your master Ramona!!" The girl had finally realized the full effect of the spell in truth, and realized: the man was going to summon a creature from beyond their world to lay waste in the name of the Serpents. She growled at this, the Serpents were always a gang of hatred, evil and deception. However few knew of the truth in their abilities. Rumors flew around Twoson and Onett that they possessed the knowledge of Wicca, a magic that could tap into the planet itself to open portals, draw lifeforce from others, and many other chaotic effects. She had finally had enough of this!

"Stop!! That's enough!!" she screamed at the man. The man was suddenly jolted out of his trance, and he jumped at the sight of her. He snarled.

"Who the he@$ do you think you are, barging in on MY territory?!" He roared. "And what made you and your lowlife cronies think this forest is YOURS in the first place?!" the girl hissed back, "Exactly what are you pulling, Serpent!?" "Well, I guess I can tell you now, but I tire of this boredom, this peace, this serenity. I wish to throw chaos into the mix." the man barked back. "You're sick!" the girl cried back in contempt. "Perhaps, but you will be his first meal!!" the man said back, referring to the creature he had just began summoning. The girl looked at the portal and back at the man. 

_He's trying to send the world to flame! Just like always, cruel as the rest of his misbegotten gang._

She then tooked back at the portal, closing her eyes, and walking towards it, despite the gusts of wind coming from it, and trying to blow her frail form to the winds. "What the he#%?! Do you have a death wish, brat!?" the man yelled at her. The girl ignored him and continued and struggled against the wind, gritting her teeth tighter and tighter as she came within feet of the gate itself. She suddenly opened her purple eyes, her GLOWING purple eyes. The winds of the portal began to calm down slowly, getting the man's attention. "What!? No... no!! The spell's failing!!" he growled.

The portal in truth was not failing. The glowing eyes of the little girl had been what caused it to calm down, er no... not calm down, more like change wind direction. Yes, the portal was now sucking in wind from Earth. The girl had changed the polarity of the portal's gravity. "Why the he@% did the gate reverse direction?!" the man was now growing red in the face in rage. He then realized what the girl had done. "You rugrat bi&#%!! You did this, didn't you?!" The girl didn't respond, as her eyes suddenly lost the omnious glowing in them, and she looked to him, and grinned a sickenly sweet smile at him, just to frazzle him...

Just as the portal's pull seized her in its' grip, and she was drawn into the winds and shot through the gate. Realizing the gate had finally began transferring something signifcant from one place to another, it began to slowly shrink and shrink down, to the man's dismay, until it had completely vanished. The man snarled for appoximately 10 seconds in disbelief and anger. His opportunity was snatched away from him by a little toddler. He turned on foot to return through the forest paths, knowing his Serpent superiors would not be happy he failed. But as his visage left the clearing, he smirked.

That little girl had just sent herself to death's door. When she arrived, the same creature he had been attempting to summon would be waiting for her, and tear her to shreds. At least he would never see her again...

However, little did he realize the truth of what he had started...

The girl that had interfered with his plans wasn't just any Eagleland girl...

She was a Polestar... she was Sandra Polestar...

And due to this, the Serpents were about to have company... very pissed off company...

In the form of Sandra's other sister Paula... who herself possessed abilities in secret that were as inhuman-like as Ramona's own...

4 hours later, fighting and large flames were reported by Twoson reporters in the area, and several dozen Serpents were taken into custody, and their leader broken and fled from Twoson by Paula's following onslaughts...

As you have probably figured out, this story is not of Ramona's accounts. No, Ramona, despite his gang being totally disbanded during Paula's anguished fighting, remained alive, and would flee to the West Coast and make a calmer life in North America.

Still, the story also isn't about Paula and how she handles her grief and sadness over Sandra's disappearance...

This story is about Sandra herself, and the adventures she will have over time, and the friends, rivals, enemies, and other people she meets...

And as she learns the Magic of the Green Child...


	2. The Sons and Daughters of the Magic Trib...

**THE MAGIC OF GREEN: THE FIRST YEARS**

**By Cecil**

**CHAPTER 1: SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE MAGIC TRIBE**

It is often speculated, and debated, that life other than our own exists in the universe, and that some believe there are planets full of intelligent lifeforms. Some go as far as to believe humans as a race do not exist only on Earth, but also in other worlds altogether, unaware of the fact other planets of their species in turn exist. And even furthermore, some believe that beings described in fairy tales, sci-fi flicks and horror films do in fact exist as well...

However none of them where around to witness the oddities that were currently occuring on a distant cliffside alongside one of the highest of mountains in a long and distant world. The trails around the mountain were tainted by footsteps of mammals, birds, webbed feet, and even claws, signs that life was in full bloom on this mysterious mountain.

In fact, one of those mammals was currently lying face down along the road and in a deep state of unconsciousness. The mammal was a small, 2 foot, 6 inch figure in a yellow and dirty sundress, with short pink hair. The mammal was a female human. The mammal was Sandra Polestar, currently blacked out from her recent experiences with the Serpent wicca chanter back on Earth. Sandra had seemed to look crazily happy at the Serpent magician as she had been sucked in.

But that was because she knew had given it her all, and that the pull of the gate would be too strong, and her strange power to change the gate's polarity would doom her to be plucked out of the safe hands of mother Earth, and thrown into the hands on this unforgiving mountain range. However she would soon not die, but awaken painfully and totally unaware of her whereabouts.

Sandra moaned in an overwhelming pain that threatened to send her back into unconsciousness yet again, as she could swear she was going through a migrane.

_Ow... that gateway was definately a ride I don't want to take again._ She thought to herself as she felt a large wave of nasuea creeping up on her. Unconsciously, and without much realization of where she was, she darted to the closest cliffside and threw up... badly.

_Ugh... that was not good..._ Sandra again thought to herself, still a bit sick from the ride. It was only then realization and rational thought whacked her upside the head again and she began to assess her situation. She looked around, and her jaw about hit the ground at the sight.

She had the idea she had been at an high altitude from the moment she had gotten up, but now she had only realized the full effect of where she was. She was about 1/2 way up the mountain she was on, which seemed thin in comparison to others, and also ended on a point, much like a spire. But around her was the true shock. Roughly 3/4s of what was in front of her were green, lush, vegetated trees. Many were normal size, but some groups looked to be 60 feet tall in height. There were clearings in many random areas of the forest, but mostly in concentrated areas. In one group of clearings, Sandra could swear she could see smoke rising from one in the faint dusk skies. Further on the horizion from her point, she could see a strange looking tower, which at times would remind one of a fork, one solid column at the bottom, but splitting into three seperate towers about halfway up.

Sandra sighed in relief however. Not because she had figured out where she was. No, she didn't know where she was. She knew somehow from the Serpent magician's words that she was likely on another world, but she was relieved because her nausea, sickness, and dizzy spells from the gate were about gone, she was free to roam at full health for the time. Sandra went to turn to a faintly glowing orange pulse beaming on her from her left, which she was hoping was the sun of the world.

However it was not a sun she came face to face with, but a plume of scalding flames, a plume of scalding flames heading right at her! Sandra screamed in fright momentarilly and sloppily managed to jump back with her speed out of the direct blast of fire, although the air around the flames still brushed her skin, heating her up a little.

However it was Sandra's speed, not her thinking that had saved her life that time. You see, Sandra, and her sister Paula, they possess a powerful gift of speed. Speed that most people their age found impossible to believe. Sandra had the ability to cover a mile in only 15 seconds, where others took about 2 minutes. Sandra didn't understand yet the need of her speed. However she found it welcome in this situation.

Now all she had to do was find the source of the flames, and get the heck away from it, and to other people, alive. However a loud and piercing roar shattered her out of her thoughts, as another plume of fire scorched at Sandra's position. Sandra dodged it quickly and easily this time and looked up, and saw a large, looming shape in the distance. She squinted into the dusk skies at the figure, trying to find out what it was.

Two long, expanding wings...

Red, scaly skin...

7 feet and muscular...

An arrow-shaped head...

_Oh my god... this must be the monster that guy was taking about!_ Sandra thought to herself, as the teenage dragon in the distance shrieked and made a arrow-style dive at Sandra.

Sandra screamed again and ran. She ran further up the hill, trying to make the dragon ram into the ground and not her. She was having luck so far, as the dragon appearantly was not used to people who moved as fast as her. Sandra continued running, and running up the cliffside. However she soon found salvation in the form of a cave. A cave that was big enough for her, but not enough for the dragon, or so she hoped. Sandra darted into the cave, just as the shadowing, inposing figure of the mid-aged dragon overtook the area of the cave opening...

Sandra and the teenage dragon however, weren't the only ones inhabiting the mountain and it's cliffs...

The young boy, appoximately 5 or 6 years of age, was whistling a tune to himself as he walked his way down the spiraling set of the spire-shaped mountain near him. He was actually very good-looking for a boy his age. His short-almond color hair swung in the mountain breeze, his blue eyes had a glow to them in his youth as he huffed and puffed the fresh mountain air. His blue outfit was an unique long sleeved uniform with a buttoned on 2 foot, 5 inch cape of an identical color in the back.

The boy hummed more. You would also be humming too if you had slain a rampaging dragon child that had been attacking villages and towns along the mountain side for weeks and pestering other locals. The dragon was 3 and a half feet, a bit muscular, and with 4 feet long wings. It in fact seemed to resemble the same dragon Sandra was currently fleeing from.

_Man, what a catch. Not only did I get one of the pesky brutes, but he'll also make a good dinner for Mom, Dad, Jannette and Rachel. They'll be so proud of me for catching one of the Jagno Dragon Whelps. However I wish I could've at least seen one of the Teenage ones, or even a full grown, but Dad and Mom say only Jannette and Dad could fight those things._ he thought to himself.

However he would not be denied his chance. A girlish scream pierced the mountain air, and also his own ears, following by a roaring. A roaring that sounded familar, but deeper. "What the...?" the boy said, looking upwards a little, towards the source of the voices. Another scream from the same girl pierced his hearing, coming from only 20 feet above. About 10-15 seconds later, another of the roaring sounds echoed along the mountain side.

"It must be a Jagno Teenager!! And it's attacking a traveler! Hold on, I'M COMING!!" the boy said, and then screamed the last of the sentence up the mountain side. Dropping the corpse of the baby Jagno, he quickly dashed up the cliffsides of the spire-like mountain, using the sounds of the girl and the dragon to make his way to the right place.

The boy however didn't have far to go as he stopped at what appeared to be a 4-5 foot cave opening in the mountain. He saw plumes of flames being shot down at the opening, making him realize whoever was screaming for help was trapped in the cave. The boy then looked up and spotted the Jagno Teenage, belching plumes of fire down on the cave.

"Golly, it IS a teenager! This is my chance to prove I'm ready for the big hunting jobs..." the boy said to himself. He then looked up at the Jagno and grinned, and then screamed, "HEY UGLY!! DOWN HERE!! YOO-HOO!! I'VE GOT YOUR LITTLE BROTHER DOWN HERE!! HELLO!!" he yelled, trying to agititate it out of it's attack. His plan worked, worked too well.

You see, the Jagno Dragons are a very observive species of dragons. So the dragon realized this small, insignifcant boy had killed it's younger sibling, and was now thinking he could kill him now. The dragon looked down and almost scowled as it totally lost focus on eating Sandra and took a fierce dive at the boy, intent on gutting him through the chest with his sharp beak.

However as smart as Jagnos were, this one didn't realize the boy had a secret to him.

The small boy looked up and outstretched his hand at the dragon, and screamed "SANDAA!!" The skies began to darken a little, and thunder rumbled... As a electrifying bolt of pure lightning struck down on the Jagno teenager, send 1000 volts surging through its' body.

However the boy's ability to call down lightning didn't quite work to the effect of charring the dragon beyond recognition, but simply knocking it off course with some scorch marks on him. "Darnit!" He held out his hands again at the beast.

But he didn't have the chance to utter a word this time. The dragon darted right at the boy, slamming into him with his large bulk, just missing the boy's neck with his beak. However the boy was now pulling himself up off of a cliff edge, only able to save his life wth quick reflexes. The boy pulled himself up. "Mom and Dad were right. The older ones make the little ones seem like a piece of cake."

The dragon shrieked at the boy yet again, but the boy definatly cried, "Oh no, no avoiding your punishment THIS TIME!! BLIZZADO!!!"

The skies around the dragon began to become misty. The dragon started to shiver in fear. No, not in fear, but because it was now cold, very cold. Suddenly a large block of ice slammed into the dragon from out of seemingly no where, sending it crashing into the side of the mountain from the damage. It slowly peeled itself out of the wall.

The boy observed the dragon, realizing it was now pretty banged up from its icy shower. "Of course... Jagnos HATE the cold weather!!" The boy beamed with happiness, preparing to fire again, but as he began to scream out the word of his odd attack, the Jagno teenager shrieked and blew a plume of flames at the boy, forcing him to abruptly stop and dodge. He managed to avoid getting roasted by only inches though.

However his cape was not as lucky, and part of the flame blast had set it on fire. The boy saw this and began jumping up and down, trying to blowing it out. However he would have to resort to stopping, dropping and rolling. He had managed to get the cape extingiushed, and got up to fire Blizzado again...

Only for his stomach to meet a vicious kick from the Jagno that sent him reeling almost to the edge of the cliffside again, in agonizing pain. The Jagnos had a mean kick, and most of the time it knocked the wind out of its' target. The Jagno screeched to the air, believing the boy was not going to get up again, and then loomed in closer towards the boy. The boy grunted in pain, unable to get up, and saw the Jagno's mouth open, and flaring up with flames. The boy sighed, realizing the hour of his doom had arrived. He had tried to take on a superior foe to save an unknown, and was about to pay dearly for it, and just stared into the flames building up at the roof of the Jagno's mouth.

However the Jagno's mouth suddenly closed, and its eyes grew to huge heights, almost like in a saturday morning cartoon. It's face began to slowly turn red, and then it gave away. "RRRRRRAAAGGGHHH!!!" it screamed and jumped up in pain, uncontrollably belching a stream of flames OVER the boy's head. The dragon soon looked over its shoulder to look at what the boy assumed was the source of his pain: a small pink-haired little girl in a yellow sundress, and the nicest purple eyes, both hjer feet firmly planted down in the dragon's exposed tailed. He quickly jumped up, and unsheathed a small broadsword, about 3 feet in length, and used his Ice ability on the sword. He then turned to the dragon and with a mighty scream, dashed in and slashed...

The dragon turned back to see the small boy finishing a slash, and then it all went dark for it... as its upper half suddenly slid off it's lower half and fell onto the ground. But instead of a pool of blood forming, both seperated halves of the now departed dragon had frozen into solid ice, but not before the girl had jumped off the lower half of the dragon.

Sandra panted a little for air. That had been one heck of a fight. She probably would've been trapped in that cave if the almond-haired boy had not arrived when he did. She noticed he seemed to be a decent fighter in his own right, as he could wield powers over nature, and also handled a sword pretty well. She thought the boy to be a mircale that had saved her life in the nick of time.

The boy on the other hand was jumping up and down in joy. After all, his parents' told him how dangerous a Jagno Dragon Teenager was to the populace, and that he wasn't appearantly ready to fight them yet. He sure had shown them!

Or had he... He had to admit that the little girl in pink and yellow had done him a huge favor by jumping down on the dragon's tail and distracting it. But he also wanted to scold her that it was too dangerous to fight such a creature. Heck, it was dangerous for a lone girl without the magic powers to be roaming on this mountatintop. Certainly there had to be a reason for her presense. He stopped hopping up and down and looked at Sandra, with a slight blush on his face.

"Er... sorry for the outburst... It's that this dragon whelp was the first of its' class I've ever killed! And as for you, how can a small girl like you be here?! It's dangerous to be by yourself without the magic powers to use here!" the boy said, ending in a lecture.

Sandra grumbled and retorted, "Well, sorry... sorry for being LOST and NOT knowing WHERE I am! But thank you for helping me..." she let it roll off her tongue with mixed feelings. She wasn't one who was used to having help from another. The boy's stern expression melted, and into a more guilty one. "Sorry about the yelling... it's just that because of you, I almost got killed. I don't think I've ever been that close to death before."

"Neither have I, until now. Curse that Serpent! I can't believe he would try to unleash such a beast on my world, on Twoson..." Sandra replied, gritting her teeth in anger at the Serpents again. The boy now had wide eyes. "Wait... you're... you're an alien creature?"

"No, I am a human. H-U-M-A-N. Human. You also look human as well, but the atmosphere around here is NOT Earth's! That's for sure." Sandra replied again, scowling at the fact she was stuck on another world, one without her loving family, the grief of her lost grandmother, and the grief of her town. "Well, I guess I should tell you, this isn't 'Earth', as you said, but Santranus. Santranus is the name we gave to this world. The name was originally thought up of Marinna Nagar, the last female ruler of medieval Santranus, and..."

Sandra cut the boy's responce off, "Okay, okay... that's a bit more info than I needed, thank you." The boy looked back at her with a frown. Sandra sighed, "Sorry. I'm lost, I was recently transported here by a magical gate that was opened by a person I really hate. That person was planning to unleash the creature you fought on my hometown, and my world, and I had to throw myself in to stop everything. I'm without a home, a mother, a father, a sister, and my grandmother on Earth just died hours ago..." Sandra couldn't hold back her tears and just began to bawl and cry. The boy almost wiped away a tear himself.

_This girl's lost... seperated from her family by a madman..._

No parents, no siblings... not even a remote idea of where she is...

I can't let this go on... I have to do something...

But can Mom, Dad, Webgarth, Jannette and Rachel handle a sixth mouth?

No... I don't care if they can or not... I must protect her... even if I die...

I could never live with myself if she died... alone and alienated...

"Hey..." he put his warm hand on her back, getting Sandra's attention a little. "How about... how about I take you back home with me... I know you probably are saddened by your losses, but you mustn't give up yet. You're young. I'm young. Truth is, NEITHER of us deserve to lose hope just yet." Sandra looked up into his face, and his blue eyes, taking all of his words in deeply, understanding...

_This boy... he barely knows me..._

He may be months older than me at the most...

The poor sap almost died today...

Just to make sure nothing happened to me...

He's right though... I'm only 5 years old...

And already Gehenna's broken loose on me...

But I will NOT GIVE UP...

Dad wouldn't allow it...

Mom wouldn't allow it...

and Paula DEFINATELY wouldn't allow it...

SO NOR WILL I!

"Yes..." she said out loud, holding back any further sobs, "Maybe your right... But are you sure your ready to take in a forienger? I mean, I know nothing of your world, and only have limited experiences from my own world." The boy laughed softly at her and said to her, "Yes, I don't care... you're alone, and right now, I'm the only person who knows you that hasn't attacked you or tried to eat you. You can trust me. I would give my life for you right now if I had to. But as I said, you mustn't give up."

"Very well, my friend... I'll come with you..." she replied back, as a droplet of water splashed on her face. More droplets splashed on her face, and also the boys. A small early evening thunderstorm was beginning to form, and began to increase in intensity as they talked. "Alright, just let me gather up the remains of the Jagno Teen, and we'll be off." the boy said, running over to the two frozen halves of the slain Jagno dragon. "By the way... I never got your name." he said.

"Likewise." Sandra replied, "Name is Sandra. If you want my last name, it's Polestar. But it probably doesn't matter right now."

The boy smiled, "Sandra, eh? That's a cute-sounding name. As for me, if you wanted to know, name's Darren. Last name is Calavinos, if you care."

Sandra laughed back at Darren playfully as he ran back to her with the two halves hoisted over his shoulder in bags he had brought along. "Let's get along, little doggies!" she cried with a bit of cheerfulness in her voice. Darren looked at her with a puzzled expression his face. Sandra blushed, "Sorry. Saying from past times on my world. Probably nothing you'll understand now." she said. Darren smiled though, "At least you're cheering up. Now yes, let's shove off..." Darren replied as the two began dashing down the cliffside at a decent speed. Sandra wasn't going her all for now, partially since she was tired from the Jagno dragon, and also because she didn't want to alarm Darren yet. They soon came across the intact corpse of the baby Jagno that Darren had originally been taking home before he rushed to Sandra's aid.

"Hmmm, another Jagno?" she said out loud. "I slew a younger one earlier before I found you. Truth is, Jagno dragons can be a menace to people living at the base of the mountain." Darren replied, a bit embarassed. "Then why did YOU fight it? In fact, why did you fight the other dragon so willingly?" Sandra asked. "Well, Sandra, truth is, my family is a group of monster hunters, especially my father, and my older sister Jannette. We get paid to fight monsters that threaten the forest lands. We also get to eat them if we catch them. For example, Sandra. These Jagno dragons will make a great feast, and even with your addition, we'll still have more than enough to feed us all!"

Sandra, now carrying the little Jagno dragon on her back, was secretly perked up by Darren's comments. "You're a monster hunter huh? Explains your abilities. You fight well." she said. "Well, my dad is the strongest in combat. He's one of the strongest people I know. He can lift a Dacklewood with only moderate strain on himself. By the way, a Dacklewood is a type of huge tree here on Santranus. You'll come to learn much about us, Sandra. You'll soon feel right at home." Darren answered.

Sandra and Darren had finally reached the bottom of the spire-shaped mountain, and were now treading onto soft grass. Through the pouring rain, Sandra noted that Santranus was a very healthty planet in trees, much unlike Earth, where the trees were usually cut down for paper uses. Sandra and Darren began to reach the more densely tree-ridden areas of the large mountain forest they were in.

However fate suddenly decided to deal another awkward hand to Sandra. Another powerful wave of nausea washed over her, and she collasped onto her knees, sick to her stomach. Darren heard the thud of the Jagno baby hitting the ground and turned to see Sandra on her knees, struggling to not throw up again. However she suddenly blurted, "Excusemeigottathrowupberightback!" all together, darting behind a tree, and Darren cringed as he heard Sandra gag and cough a good amount. Darren ran over after she had appearantly stopped. He found Sandra again, but now looking a lot better than she had been before. "Sandra, are you okay?!" "Yeah, just more nausea from the gate incident. It got me sick earlier." she replied.

Darren then tensed up a bit, and held out his hand, "Okay, then it might come back again. I should carry you back home and..."

Sandra suddenly grumbled, interuptting him, "No... I can get back on my own. I do not need to be becoming dependant on others!"

Darren understood her feelings, but protested, "Sandra, if something happened to you, I told you that I couldn't take it. Please, just this once... please let me take you home myself. I'll even leave the Jagno meat behind while I take you home, but if I don't get you home, you could catch your death in this cold and dreary evening rain!"

Sandra opened her mouth to protest again, but suddenly memories began to flood her mind...

2 Years ago...

It was a dark day outside in Twoson, Eagleland. And it was pouring rain like cats and dogs. A 3 year old Paula and a 3 year old Sandra were minding their own business, talking about small kid things, like who got the next toy and such.

"Sandy, are you done with those blocks yet?" Paula called Sandra by a nick name of hers. Paula preferred calling her 'Sandy' because it sounded easier for her to say, and it was average for someone with Sandra's name to be called that.

"Um... sure! Almost done!" Sandra picked a few unused blocks and handed them to her.

"Hey!" they heard a kid yell from across the room, "Give that back!" They saw the new preschooler, Joshua, frantically trying to get his Spell-o-Matic 84' back from Wren, who barged in and stole it. "Back off, Joshy! I saw it, it's mine!"

Josh wasn't as easily scared like the other kids, and walked towards him.

"Oh, a wise guy, huh. You want it, here!" Wren tossed it back to Josh, then shoved him down as he caught it. Most kids would cry at such torture, but Josh spun his leg around and kicked Wren and tripped him, making him bang his head against the wall.

Wren recovered and growled, "You wanna be a tough guy, come on then, porky!" he then began to advance on Josh, a menacing glare in his eyes. How dare this stupid tike push him, brother of Ramona, Serpent magician around.

Paula and Sandra had seen the whole thing, and were surprised at Josh's bravery, and appalled with Wren's usual attitude. They usually stayed out of it, but now Paula was furious. She sat a block of hers on the ground, and used her telekenetic powers to send it over to where Wren and Josh were. Paula positioned it right where Wren's foot was about to come down, and he tripped and fell on his face.

Josh laughed knowing of Paula's save, but taking the image of Wren on the floor in pain in delightment, "Looks like I won't have to be tough. You're already down."

"Stupid toy block!" Wren picked it up, and searched for who might have put it there. He saw there were no other blocks like the one he had in their part of the pen, but then he saw Paula and Sandra's blocks, and growled.

_How dare she... stupid little bi@%@!!!_ Wren was furious on the inside, but tried to remain calm on the outside, which wasn't working well.

"Paula, I think you got him mad at us." Sandra said, "Not that I care. He needed to be taught that little lesson." Wren walked up to them.

"You think it's funny to trip me with blocks, is it?" The two sisters got up, prepared for trouble.

"Not funny at all. It was more to wake you up." Sandra said, with a slight hint of a smirk.

"Listen, you may be the children of the owner of this dump, but that doesn't mean anything." he growled, trying to use banter on them, however it backfired on him this time.

"Dump! You homewrecker!" Paula said and shoved Wren. He growled at her, and recovered and shoved her back. Paula lost her footing and fell through the blocks, angered and a little hurt.

Sandra growled and turned to Wren, her eyes appearing to glow an eerie purple. How could a jerk like him shove her sister around like that...

"Grraaagh!!" she charged him and shoved him back a few feet with amazing strength, until he hit his head along the wall behind him. Wren couldn't believe she of all people shoved him that way, and with such strength. The rage in his eyes could've burned a hole in her if he used it as energy.

"YOU SORRY LITTLE FOOL, I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT!!!" Wren growled and got up, preparing to charge at her...

But it never happened...

Because then Paula began bawling and crying. Their mother, Penelope, suddenly rushed in at her whails.

"Paula, honey, what's wrong?" Penelope asked. "Wren pushed her through the blocks, and was picking on Josh as well." Sandra answered.

"I did no such thi..." Wren tried to protest, but Penelope knew much better about Wren's behavior and cut him off. "Young man, honestly. You think you rule the world. You don't. Grow up. I'm putting you in time out and calling your parents." Penelope grabbed Wren by the arm and dragged him into the other room. He looked back and growled at Sandra briefly, plotting for a way to get her back for her insolence. However his thoughts were interuptted...

_**"And next time you ever touch Paula like that, I'll do more than shove you, you no good vermin."**_ Sandra spoke into his mind, shocking the heck outta him, as he turned away, flustered.

"Paula, you okay?" Sandra asked her. "Yes, but I had to cry, or something worse could've happened between you two."

"You did that to just bring Mommy in here? Smart thinking, although it won't always work. She won't always be around Paula." Sandra said.

"I know, but I couldn't have helped you in any other way. He was too strong for me." Paula replied in shame.

"You and I are gonna to have to stand up against tough things like him. Mommy and Daddy always mention life is merciless. But don't feel like garbage about that. You at least defended everyone else here along with me and yourself." Sandra replied, putting a hand on Paula's shoulder.

"Sandra, I guess it makes sense with what you said about life, but always fighting back can make it worse too. Also, remember something... while it may be true that you shouldn't expect help, try to accept any help that does come around" Paula answered.

Sandra reamined silent for a few seconds. "You also have a point. I guess we'll be learning about each other as our lives continue." "Yes, it seems so." The two then went back to playing with the blocks...

**Also, remember something... while it may be true that you shouldn't expect help, try to accept any help that does come around...** Paula's words from two years back had rang in Sandra's head now. Realizing her sisters words were meant for her own survival and protection as well. Another way of saying, "Sandra, I don't want you being killed because you didn't have the power to fight someone on your own."

Sandra gave in to reason, "Okay... you win today Darren. You can carry me home if you really want to." "Thank you for understanding... I'll get you home as soon as possible. I promise." Darren replied, dropping his bags of the two halves of the teenage Jagno dragon on the ground and cradling Sandra in his arms.

Darren then proceeded to make a mad dash to his home. Sandra had closed her eyes to rest and recover from her portal-induced sickness, at least what remained of it, so she wasn't totally able to make out the environment she traveled in, but she closed her eyes, content for now, that Darren wouldn't go back on his word...

Darren would give his life for her, and she vowed she'd give her life for him now if she had too...

However, the time to think of favors was past her and Darren at the moment, as bright lights illuminated in the corner of Sandra's half-closed eyes, and she looked up to see a small house in the distance. From the looks of the handiwork, she assumed Santranus was in a partially post medieval era, but not anywhere near as advanced as Earth's Industrial Age. And for the forests' sake, it was probably for the best.

Soon, Sandra forced herself out of Darren's arms, somehow knowing that this place was his house. Darren slowly walked up and opened the door, hoping he wouldn't get hollered at for being a little late, not to mention soak and wet. Sandra half-meekly followed him inside, noting the small trail of rain they left behind them. However didn't have far to walk, as two young women were in the same room, and both were staring at Darren and Sandra with slightly wide eyes.

"Darren? Brother? What happened?! Why are you all soaked, and late? And who is that with you?!" she asked. She was about 5 feet, 6 inches, looked to be about 16 years old, had almond-hair like Darren, but green eyes instead of blue, which matched the light blue colors of her dress, which looked somewhat old fashioned. Darren smiled at Jannette, his older sister, and the eldest child of his family, as she always tended to watch him like a hawk.

The other woman, who Sandra assumed was Darren's mother, was blonde with green eyes as well, but wearing a red and white embroidered dress, with a special bonnet over her head, and a smile that could melt any child's heart, even Sandra's own. She looked like a perfect copy of Penelope Polestar, Sandra's own mother.

"Mom, Jannette, please bring Rachel, Webgarth and Dad here... We have company, company that will be with us for an indefinate time..." Darren replied back.

"Why is that, son?" said a male's voice, as Sandra spotted a tall and well decently built man, about 6'1", with Darren and Jannette's almond colored hair, and with a kindhearted, yet somewhat stern expression on his face.

"Everyone, this girl is Sandra... Sandra Polestar... she's sorta... well, how do I put this..." Darren tried to find the right words to use, since he realized his parents' may not buy the 'she's from another world' bit.

But he didn't have to say anything, as Sandra spoke up, "I'm terribly sorry to be a burden on all of you, especially Darren here, considering he saved my life here. However, I am sorta an orphan, an 'out-of-this-world' orphan. As in this is not my homeworld, and I have been stranded here by the acts of a madman on my world. Darren believes he can help me work things out on this world... if you'll let us, that is."

However, Sandra did not get a great amount of disbelievant looks from Darren's family, now including a little blonde hair, blue eyed girl, who also sorta reminded her of Paula, but not quite as innocent looking as Paula was. Darren's father replied with a hearty chuckled.

"Of course we'll let you, my girl!" he said with a chuckling smile, "Darren is quite strong for his age, and you sure don't look to be from any village on Santranus, not with those odd looking clothes." he chuckled again, pointing at Sandra's yellow sundress. Sandra blushed a bit.

"Also, you'll never believe what I had to do to save Sandra. I had to fight a Teenage Jagno!" Darren said, sounding like his young age this time instead of a more serious fellow.

"WHAT?! Darren, are you speaking the truth?!" his mother suddenly piped in, shocked her son would attempt to fight such a thing,

"Yes, the same dragon about ate me, but Darren came in, like a great hero, and fought it to save my life. I did help just a bit, and I think I gave Darren enough time to kill it off."

"If that's so, where's the remains?" Jannette asked her brother, still not fully believing of her brother and Sandra.

"ACK, the remains! I left them behind to bring Sandra here because she's a bit on the sick side from her journey here, and the rain wouldn't have helped matters, either!" Darren replied, almost smacking his forehead. His father chuckled however.

"Leave it to me, son. I'll be back with the remains you left behind soon enough. The rest of you should help our new daughter heal up from her hectic experiences." said Darren's father, as he opened the back door and stepped out.

Darren and the rest of his family soon led Sandra to one of their vacant guest rooms, telling her that they would get all accquainted after she fully recovered. Sandra thanked them all sincerely as she closed the door behind him. She looked on at the room, which had an enchanting hickory smell to it, and the bed looked really comfortable to her right now.

With no more time to lose, she fell asleep in bed on her stomach and face, and let the relieving darkness take her into slumberland for now...

Sure Sandra was stranded on this Santranus world...

Sure Sandra was only meeting the first people of Santranus...

Sure her future was unknown...

But she would let that concern her furtherly AFTER her sleep...

As the power of Green rests within...

Unknown to all of them, even herself...


End file.
